A Gary woman is facing charges for killing her child’s father on July 4, records allege.
Maya D. Washington, 40, was charged July 11 with murder. She is in custody, held without bail. Her next court date is July 24.
Records show Washington said they had been drinking at a July 4 party and argued that night. Days before, she texted and threatened another woman, suspecting Jerome Scott was cheating, an affidavit states.
Police responded around 10 a.m. July 4 to an apartment building on the 3600 block of Superior Court in East Chicago. Scott, 35, of Hammond, was sitting hunched and told them he was shot in the abdomen. He was taken to the University of Chicago where he later died.
A witness was watching “fireworks,” when a yellow Ford Escape pulled up and someone got out, then returned to the vehicle before it left. Five, or 10 minutes later, the car returned. Scott walked up to the driver’s side, before a “pop” rang out. He staggered back briefly and collapsed. There was no arguing, the witness said.
Police traced the vehicle with license plate readers to Washington. When interviewed, she gave several different versions of what happened. None matched the witness’ account. In some versions, she said they were arguing, or fighting over the gun inside the car when it went off.
She and Scott had one child together, and they went to the party with her kids. Afterward, Washington said she had been dropping off a woman at the apartments.
In another version, Washington said she chased Scott outside the car to get the gun back. It went off, she grabbed it and went back to the car, saying she didn’t know he was shot. She later tried to text him, but he didn’t respond. The woman she dropped off told her Scott was shot and to get a lawyer.
Police found the Hi-Point gun, the alleged murder weapon, and another .22-caliber gun in Washington’s bedroom closet. Investigators found a spent casing under her driver’s seat, contradicting her story that it happened outside the car.
Washington texted Scott around 4:30 p.m. on July 5.
“I’m sorry, I got out of my body,” she wrote, later adding “I’m sorry baby daddy, u (sic) brought a side out of me, I thought nobody could take me back, tooo (sic).”
On June 29, Washington texted another woman.
“Both of you…gonna die,” Washington wrote. “You better hope your mama don’t die.”
Scott is survived by six children, according to his obituary.